Dr. Kiersten Stead, Ph.D. has joined Stemson Therapeutics in its quest to advance the development of its proprietary therapeutic solution for hair loss. Dr. Stead acknowledges that it has been almost 30 years since the last FDA-approved hair loss treatment, yet millions still suffer the physical and mental impact of losing their hair each year.
Stemson’s novel stem cell engineering platform has the potential to cure hair loss. The technology uses the patient’s own cells to generate new hair follicles. The company has secured $22.5 million in financing so far with investors AbbVie Ventures and Genoa Ventures on board. The next stage of research and development will be to focus on developing a solution for human skin structure environment in larger animal models. The technology has been tested on small animal models successfully. The application of stem cell treatment to generate hair growth itself isn’t new, but controlling the hair growth to achieve an aesthetically pleasing result is something the company is trying to achieve.
Stemson is a company to watch for the next breakthrough in hair growth. There are other companies to watch as well in the hair growth market such as Replicel and Shiseido (RCH-01). Allergan Aesthetics, which is part of AbbVie Ventures, has an ongoing interest in hair loss. That is why they are working with Stemson for a hair loss cure. While it is very frustrating for those who suffer from hair loss to wait for a solution, there is a lot of work behind the scenes for a new aesthetically pleasing solution.
I wish something new would come up now. So far I don’t like the options, I don’t want to shave my head and I don’t want a wig.